Cost Management Officer at ACCION Microfinance Bank

Reports to: Chief Financial Officer

Summary/Objective

• The ideal candidate will coordinate all activities relating to accurate and timely reporting of historical financial performance and communicating same to stakeholders in the relevant accounting standards and formats.
• Candidate will also have responsibility for coordinating regulatory reporting and compliance with zero infraction tolerance.

Cost Management General Responsibilities

• Elimination of waste and improve process efficiency by providing and driving a disciplined expenditure justification framework and supporting operating units with better informed testing statistics.
• Drive and sustain bank wide cost management culture and ensuring compliance with cost management policies, procedures and frameworks.
• Provide basis for relating operating expenses to budgets and ensuring that cost budget figures are effectively used to drive business.
• Coordinate all expenditure approval and payment activities of the bank in a most efficient manner.
• To ensure completeness and accuracy of transaction processed.

Cost Management Staff Key Responsibilities

• Review key expenditure lines to appreciate their nature and behaviour with a view to eliminating waste.
• Review work process of key operating units to optimize outputs, and explore alternative ways of doing same work.
• Propose to Chief Finance Officer new frameworks for incurring given expenses within the bank.
• Processing of expense tickets to ensure proper approvals & coding.
• Representing Chief Finance Officer in tender sessions.
• Provide a rational and objective basis for appraising expenditure related investments proposal, and measuring post implementation outcomes.
• Review the procurement activities of Accion and suggest on alternate cost – saving methods of procurement.
• Understand and review weekly (Cost Owners) expense accounts with a view to ensuring completeness and appropriateness of reporting.
• Monitoring of branches budget compliance by updating the Budget Monitor with the actual CAPEX cost
• Conduct of periodical market survey and intelligence for best prices and practices.
• Liaise with branches to ensure proper reporting and posting of expense transaction.
• Recommend changes to expenditure policies and procedures from time to time.
• Applying applicable Withholding Tax (WHT) rates on expense payment
• Stamping of expense tickets to ensure reporting to the appropriate Expense account.
• Recording all processed expenses into a memorandum (Excel) records format.

Due Process Strategic Objectives

• Centralized responsibility for Accion’s acquisition of assets and services in a manner that will offer highest value for the bank’s money. Do more with less.
• To relieve operating units from the burden of managing procurement/expenditure responsibilities.

Due Process General Responsibilities

• Elimination of waste and improve process efficiency by providing and driving a disciplined tendering process.
• Ensure that due process is followed by in acquisition of assets and services by the bank.
• Coordinate all tender meetings for the bank and ensure that appropriate approvals are sought in line with bank’s policy.
• Prequalify vendors/contractors and maintain the bank’s vendors/contractors database.

Unit Staff Key Responsibilities

• Convening and co coordinating the banks tender committee meetings.
• Seeking approval from appropriate authorities in line with bank’s policy for acquisition of assets and services by the bank.
• Maintaining independent vendors/suppliers database from that of Head Office Administration Group.
• Liaising between equipment maintenance unit of Corporate Services and service providers and branches for effective operation of the annual maintenance service contracts.
• Working with Corporate Services on processing and administration of annual Maintenance Service Contracts (MSC) on service/ office equipment.
• Maintain records of all transactions relating to Contract service providers bank wide.
• Confirm the service qualities of all service providers and provide a service rating per all vendors in contract.
• Attend to contractors and vendors on issues on service contracts.
• Scheduling and attending of tenders for procurement in line with policy including preliminary briefings and communications to tender committee members with due notice.
• Coordinating the price intelligence supervision function.

Qualifications and Experience

• First degree in Accountancy, Finance, Economics or any related numerate discipline with a minimum of second class or its equivalent.
• Professional certification especially in ACCA or ACA.
• M.Sc. or MBA will be an added advantage.